Air conditioning apparatus



Jan. 18, 1938. G. LANGFORD A 2,105,887

AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 16, 1955 iimllmm wil WH|| IN VE NTOR GEO ?atente J 1 m3 AIR GOITIONING AP George W. Langford, AnnArbon'ltiiich.

Application December 16, 1935, Serial No. d,?2d

9 Claims.

- has for another object to so construct the apparatus that its partsare readily accessible. The invention has for further objects to providea removable air filter and to provide the filter with a portionoverhanging the liquid elevating device so that the elevated liquid willbe discharged directly against the filter.

With these and other objects in view, the invention resides in the novelfeatures of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts asmore fully hereinafter set forth.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a rear elevation of an air conditioning apparatus embodyingmy invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical section therethrough;

Figures 3 and 4 are sectional views corresponding to a part of Figure 2and showing modifications.

The air conditioning apparatus, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, comprisesthe casing I which is formed of the upper and lower sections 2 and 3respectively. These sections are preferably formed of sheet metal andthe upper section is preferably of lighter gauge than the lower. Bothsections are preferably of rectangular horizontal cross section. Thelower section has an open upper end and the upper section has an openlower end which registers with and is supported upon the upper edges ofthe side walls of the lower section. To position the upper section uponthe lower section, there is the angle-shaped sheet metal strip 4 whichis fixedly secured at its upper edge to the inner sides of the sidewalls of the upper section and which depends downwardly inside the lowersection.

The upper section has the air inlet an outlet openings 5 and 6respectively in its rear and front walls and located above its lower endand below its top and substantially registering with each other. i is asupport secured to the top of the upper section and depending therefrom,the lower portion of this support being in the nature of a loop forengaging and fixedly securing and carrying the electric motor 8. Uponthe front end of the motor shaft 9 there is fixedly secured the fan l0and upon the rear end of this motor shaft there is fixedly secured thepulley II. The endless belt l2, which is shown particularly in Figure 2,is of circular cross section and extends around the hub of the pulley Hand depends downwardly within the lower section 3 and into the liquidcontained in this lower section. It will be seen that the electric motorwill drive both the fan and pulley and that the fan will create acircula-. tion of air through the upper section of the easing, theblades of the fan being inclined to pull the air through the inletopening and to force the air through the outlet opening. The pulleycauses the belt l2 to travel around its hub and this belt will carryliquid upwardly from the receptacle and deposit the same upon thepulley, the sides or disks of which throw the liquid in a fine ingthrough the upper section of the casing, I have provided the filter l3which is preferably 10- cated within the casing and near the air inletopening 5. This filter comprises the frame It which is preferably formedof sheet metal and the fibrous material or member I5 stretched betweenthe top and bottom bars and the side bars of the frame, these bars beingpreferably crimped upon the fibrous material or member. The side barsare preferably bent intermediate the top and bottom bars so that thefilter has a generally vertically extending lower portion and aninclined upper portion. The upper portion overhangs the pulley H tocatch liquid thrown off by the pulley. The caught liquid spreads overthe entire exposed surface of the fibrous material or member by bothgravity and capillary action, so that an extended moistened area isprovided for contact 3 with the air. To hold the fibrous material ormember 15 from sagging at the bend when wet, I have provided the supportIt which extends beneath the fibrous material or member from one sidebar to the other. This'support contacts at spaced zones with the fibrousmaterial or member and, as a result, presents very little interferencewith the movement of the liquid from the upper portion of the fibrousmaterial or member to itslower portion. The support, as shown in thepresent instance, is a coiled wire with the coils spread apart aconsiderable distance to have limited contact with the fibrous materialor member. c

For removably supporting the filter in the upper section, I haveprovided the Z-shaped sheet metal strip it which is fixedly secured tothe rear wall of the upper section and which forms with the portion ofthe rear wall bordering the lower end of the air inlet opening a channelfor 15 ray. For humidifying and cleaning the air passdetachablyreceiving the bottom bar of the filter. I have also provided the sheetmetal strip I! which is secured to the top of the upper section andwhich depends therefrom and terminates in the inclined shelf III fordetachably supporting the top bar of the filter. The strips I6 and I!also serve to prevent the passage of air through the space between thebottom bar of the filter and the rear wall of the upper section and thespace between the top bar of the filter and the top of the uppersection. For sealing the space between the side bars of the filter andthe end walls of the upper section, I provide the sheet metal strips l9,each of these strips being preferably of angular cross section andhaving a flange fixedly secured to an end wall of the upper section anda flange for abutting a side bar of the filter. The strips l9 may bemounted upon suitable sheet metal strips l9, each of which is preferablyof angular cross section and has a broad flange secured to an end wallof the upper section.

To firmly hold the filter, there -is the spring clip 20 which is fixedlysecured to the bottom bar of the filter at its middle and which has theresilient leg 2| for yieldably engaging the inner side of the portion ofthe rear wall of the upper section below the air inlet opening 5.

To avoid the possibility of liquid filling the channel engaged by thebottom of the filter, the strip [6 preferably is provided with the drainholes 22 which are located in front of or inwardly beyond the filter. o

For heating the air passing through the casing, I have provided theelectric heating element 23 which is insulatably carried by the sheetmetal frame 24. This frame is mounted'upon the upper section 2 withinthe air outlet opening 6 and extends rearwardly or inwardly from thefront wall of the upper section. This heating element serves to moreeffectively vaporize the liquid being carried by the air.

Figure 3 shows a modified construction of pulley and endless belt inwhich the portion 25 of the hub of the pulley between the sides or disksis crowned or convex and the endless belt 26 is fiat or of rectangularcross section and of much greater width than thickness. Its width isless than the distance between the adjacent portions of the sides ordisks of the pulley so that it can not bind on the sides or disks. Withthe construction shown in this figure, the belt during operation will beautomatically centered upon the pulley so that the belt can not ride outupon the sides or disks.

In the modification shown in Figure 4, the portion 21 of the hub of thepulley between its sides or disks is concave, while the endless belt 28is of the same cross section as the belt 26. The curvature of the huband the adjacent portions of the sides or disks of the pulley issufficiently large to avoid binding of the belt on' the hub or sides ordisks.

In both of these modified forms, the endless belts will carry the liquidto the pulleys and either throw off the elevated liquid directly orconduct the liquid to the sides or disks of the pulleys which will throwoff the liquid.or conduct the liquid to the hubs which in turn conductthe liquid to the sides or disks.

From the above description, it will be readily seen that I have provideda simple construction of air conditioning apparatus in which the uppersection of the casing may be used with or without the lower section.When the two sections are used together, the air passing through theupper section comes into contact with the liquid upon the filter andalso the liquid being thrown off the sides or disks of the pulley, whichare convex and rounded, in a fine spray, so that the air is effectivelycleaned and humidified. The airj may also be heated during its passageby turning on the switch controlling the operation of the heatingelement. When the upper section alone is used, the filter may beimpregnated with r a suitable liquid, such as a medicament, and air maybe drawn through the filter and also heated, if desired. As an example,the upper section may be used in the treatment of patients havinghayfever. It will be further seen that the filter used in humidifying Iand cleaning the air may be readily mounted in place or removed and thatthis filter is so constructed that it has a portion directly in the pathof the liquid which has been elevated and is being thrown off ordischarged from the pulley.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An air conditioning apparatus, comprising means forming an airpassageway and means forming a liquid receptacle below said air pas-'sageway, means for creating a flow of air through said air passageway,a filter through which said air passes, said filter having anoverhanging portion, and means below said overhanging portion forelevating liquid from said receptacle and throwing the elevated liquiddirectly against said overhanging portion.

2. An air conditioning apparatus, comprising a casing having a liquidreceptacle in its lower portion and also having air inlet and outletopenings in its upper portion, a fan within the upper portion of saidcasing for creating a fiow of air therethrough, a motor for driving saidfan,

a pulley also driven by said motor, an endless belt extending aroundsaid pulley and depending into the liquid within said receptacle, and afilter through which the air passes, said filter being removably mountedwithin said casing and having an inclined portion extending over saidpulley.

3!- An air conditioning apparatus, comprising a casing havingsubstantially registering air inlet and outlet openings respectively inits rear and front walls, said casing also having a liquid receptaclebelow said openings, means upon said rear wall cooperating with theportion thereof bounding the lower edge of said air inlet opening toform an upwardly opening channel, means suspended from the top of saidcasing intermediate said front and rear walls forming a shelf, a filtercomprising a frame having its lower edge extending into said channel andits upper edge supported upon said shelf, said filter also comprising afibrous member upon said frame, a fan for creating a flow of air throughsaid openings and fibrous member, and means revoluble with said fan forelevating liquid from said receptacle and thowing the elevated liquidagainst the portion of said fibrous member near said shelf.

4. An air conditioning apparatus, comprising means forming an airpassageway, a filter in said air passageway comprising a fibrous memberand a surrounding frame, said fibrous member having a substantiallyvertically extending lower portion and an inclined upper portion, meansfor discharging liquid upon said fibrous member, and a coiled wirebeneath and supporting said upper portion.

5. An air conditioning apparatus, comprising means forming an airpassageway, a liquid receptacle below said air passageway, means forcreating a flow of air through said air passageway, a pulley havingsides and a hub with a crowned portion between said sides, and anendless flat belt extending over and engaging said crowned portion anddepending into the liquid in said receptacle.

6. An air conditioning apparatus, comprising means forming an airpassageway, a liquid receptacle below said air passageway, means forcreating a flow of air through said air passageway, a pulley havingsides and a hub with a concave portion between said sides, and anendless fiat belt extending over and engaging said concave portion anddepending into the liquid in said receptacle.

7. An air conditioning apparatus, comprising a casing having a liquidreceptacle in its lower portion and also having'air inlet and outletopenings in its upper portion to provide for the passage of air throughthe latter portion, a motor driven pulley element located within the airstream, an endless belt extending around the pulley element anddepending into the liquid within the receptacle for elevating liquidfrom the receptacle to the air stream, and 'a filter positioned in theair stream and having a portion extending over the pulley element.

8. An air conditioning aparatus, comprising a casing having a liquidreceptacle in its lower portion and also having air inlet and outletopenings in its upper portion to provide for the flow of air through thelatter portion, a motor driven pulley element located within the airstream, an endless belt extending around said pulley element anddepending into the liquid within said receptacle for elevating liquid tothe air stream, said pulley element having opposed side portions shapedto discharge the elevated liquid outwardly in a fine spray, and a filterlocated within the air stream in a position to intercept the sprayeiTected by said pulley element.

9. An air conditioning apparatus, comprising a casing having a liquidreceptacle in its lower portion and having an air passageway extendingtherethrough above the receptacle, a fan in the air passageway forcreating a flow of air through said passageway, a motor for driving thefan, means for elevating liquid from the receptacle into the air streameiiected by the fan including an endless belt depending into the liquidin the receptacle, means driven by the motor and positioned in the airstream including a pulley element supporting said endless belt andeffecting a spray of the liquid elevated by said belt, and a filterpositioned to intercept the spray effected by the pulley element.

GEORGE W. LANGFORD.

